


Second Chances

by thecompletebookworm



Series: Rumbelle Showdown [8]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family Fluff, Pregnancy, Rumbelle Showdown 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 10:28:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14735261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecompletebookworm/pseuds/thecompletebookworm
Summary: Prompts: omen; give it another try; back to the libraryBelle has something to tell her husband and she isn't sure how he'll react.  Gideon is going to have to help her with the surprise.





	Second Chances

Belle paced back and forth as she waited for her husband to get home.  Her hands anxiously played with her dress as she looked toward the TV.  Gideon was safely distracted, badly singing along to a cartoon on the sofa with his stuffed dragon. But even the image of her son wasn’t enough to soothe her aching heart.  

Belle picked up the thin little strip of plastic that was going to change their lives forever. 

She needed Rumple to react well.  They hadn’t talked about other children.  For the past few years, their lives had revolved around Gideon, watching him grow and babble and move.  Rumple had made cupcakes the day Gideon had started crawling.  It had been perfect despite a rough beginning.  

And now, she was crying again.  Stupid pregnancy hormones.  Belle sunk into a seat at the kitchen table, trying to force her tears to stop.   She was supposed to be happy; she was happy, she reasoned with herself.   But the memory of what had happened with her last pregnancy was too fresh.   She hadn’t gotten to experience it like she’d wanted to, there had been no nervous ultrasounds spent clutching Rumple’s hand, no midnight cravings, no swollen feet.   She’d barely had a chance to experience the feeling of being pregnant before, before it all went wrong.  And its probably a bad omen for the rest of the pregnancy that she can’t even stop crying enough to think about this logically.   She needed to pull herself together before Rumple got home or before Gideon’s cartoon ended.  

At the feel of a tiny hand on her thigh, Belle plastered a smile over her runaway emotions.  

“I want up, Mama.”

“Of course, Gid”

Suddenly, the calm she was faking felt a little less fake.  Here was her Gideon in his little grass-stained overalls, cuddling into her, with his father’s eyes and her nose, and he was perfect.   Any other child would be just as perfect and just as loved.

His little hand reached out and stroked her face.  "What’s wrong?  Can I kiss it and make it better?“  

Belle let out a little laugh.  She couldn’t help but ruffle his hair.   "You already made it better.  See look how happy I am.”  She gave him an exaggerated smile.  

“Is there a monster? Freddy and I can protect you.” Gideon held up his plush dragon to emphasize how excited Freddy was to help.  

A wonderful idea flitted across Belle’s mind.   This time she actually knew she was pregnant before Rumple did and she was going to make the best of it.

“Gideon, how would you like to help me give your Papa a surprise?"   

* * *

It had taken her a little over a week to get everything in order, but it felt like a very long week.   Gideon wasn’t completely in the loop. He was already practically jumping up and down whenever he saw his Papa.   Belle had gotten very good at standing behind Rumple’s shoulder, and pretending to zip her lips shut and lock them, so that Gideon wouldn’t get carried away and mention the surprise.  Belle knew that if Gideon knew he was going to be a big brother, the entire world would know, not just Rumple.  

Still the day had finally come.   She had her picnic basket packed with lunch and the little presents sitting downstairs. Once Gideon was ready to go, the two of them would walk over to the pawnshop and steal Rumple away for lunch. Gideon, however, was determined to make getting ready a trial of its own.  Putting him in his miniature suit was more of a struggle than she anticipated. She had thought it was a great idea, to have him look like his Papa, but now she was regretting it.    

"I don’t know how Papa does it.  There are too many layers."  

Belle let out a laugh. "I think that’s why he likes it.  It’s your Papa’s armor and its got to be nice and thick so the evil witches don’t hurt him."  

"Well them I should wear this everyday so I can protect you and Papa.”  He tried to pose dramatically and Belle huffed as his actions put him once again out of reach.  Between his constant movements and his jacket’s incredibly small buttons, this lunch picnic might turn into a dinner picnic.  

“I think this is good armor for your Papa but we’ll need to find something easier for you to get in-"  

She stopped talking as she heard the door open downstairs.  Gideon heard it too as he was flying down the stairs as fast as his little legs would carry him.  Belle walked slower, her thoughts filled with dread.  It was silly, but she had seriously thought that if she could just stick to the plan that this would be easy.  If Belle could give her husband the news with all the pomp and circumstance he deserved, he might not realize how ridiculously scared she was.  She knew this wasn’t like last time.  Still Belle couldn’t help but stop on the last steps and savor her family’s carefree chatter.    

"Where’s my Gideon? I thought he’d be here to say hello.”

“I’m right here, Papa.”  

“No.  You’re much too handsome and grown up and-” Belle could no longer hear her husband’s exaggerated teasing over the sound of Gideon’s squealing giggles.    

It was now or never.  She was perfectly able to just walk in and tell him, perfect planning be damned.  

Even after all these years, his face lit up when he saw her.  "Don’t tell me I forgot something important.” He gestured at his excited, unusually well-dressed son and the wrapped boxes peaking out of the picnic basket.  

“I’m allowed to surprise you every once in a while.”  She leaned in to kiss him, knowing it would ground her before what was to come.  

Rumplestiltskin smiled back at her.   “Aye. And I’m sorry for ruining it.”

Belle couldn’t contain her laugh now.  "You’ve hardly ruined it.“  

A family picnic and Gideon dressed like his Papa were only the window dressings on her surprise, something to focus on to not be overwhelmed by nerves.  But now, with Rumple holding her close, it felt silly to have worried for so long. "Gideon, can you give the green box to your Papa, please?”

* * *

 Gideon used his step stool to grab the green box off the counter.  He nearly skipped over to the two of them.  Mama hadn’t told him exactly what the surprise was, only that she hoped Papa would be happy.   He handed over the box with a small bow, before tugging on his Mama’s skirt so she could lift him up to see too.     
Papa spent entirely too much time carefully peeling back the ribbon and the tape.  If it was Gideon’s present, he would have ripped the paper off right away.   
  
Maybe he could show Papa how on the next one. Although Gideon wasn’t sure if Papa would want to open the next one, the stick wasn’t particularly interesting and it was making Papa cry.  When Mama put him down, Gideon was perfectly happy to go leave his parents alone.  They were both crying now and Gideon didn’t like crying.    

* * *

As soon as Gideon was out of the room, Rumple laid his hands gently on her stomach.  "You’re sure, Belle. We’re really having a baby?“  He practically beamed despite the tears.  

She nodded slowly. "I wasn’t sure how you’d react because we weren’t trying and because last time-"  

He cut her off with a kiss.  "This isn’t last time. I’m here and you’re both safe.”   Rumple knelt down to whisper to her stomach “I’ll always protect you little one.”   He gave the stomach the sweetest little kiss and Belle couldn’t help but pull him up to tug him close to her.  

“I was so scared.   I don’t know what I’m doing and-”

“Shhh, it’s alright. Look at Gideon.  You’re a wonderful mother.  You don’t have anything to worry about.  This baby will love you just as much as he does."  

"But the pregnancy stuff is all new.  What if I don’t-”

He squeezed her hand tightly.  "If you don’t know, we’ll take a trip to the library and find all the books we need to answer any question you might have.  It’s not like I know any more than you do.“  

It was a brief stab to her heart, she had deprived him of all of this the last time around.  But this pregnancy, this baby, this was a chance to get it right from the beginning.    

"So what was in the other package?"    

* * *

Gideon was thrilled his parents seemed to be done being sappy. Then, Mama handed him the other present and he got to show Papa how you were supposed to tear off the wrapping paper at breakneck speeds.  

“What’s it say? What’s it say?”  He pleaded.

Papa smiled.  Inside the other package was a little red shirt emblazoned with gold writing, reading “Proud Big Brother.”  


End file.
